Confirmation
by JennieBlue
Summary: E/C with a little R/V. He was about to wake her up, pretend that he’d just walked into the break room, when she shifted, whimpered, and spoke three words that nearly stopped his heart.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Just a little one shot. The idea came to me while I was lollygagging in bed Saturday morning (alone, you dirty minded people!).

Confirmation

Eric strode into the darkened break room in search of some strong coffee. He needed a caffeine fix, badly, if he was ever going to finish processing the evidence in the case they were currently working on.

The members of one gang lured the members of a rival gang to an abandoned shack in the middle of the Everglades. A shootout ensued leaving six dead gang members and an army of bullet casings, fingerprints, tire tread and shoe prints for him to analyze. With the only living gang member to be found at the shack currently in a coma, it was up to them to find out who the killers were.

Without turning on the lights Eric made a beeline for the coffee pot and proceeded to prepare the coffeemaker to brew an extra strong pot. After setting the machine to brew, he turned with a yawn and plopped himself down in a chair to wait. He was about to lay his head back and close his eyes for a few minutes when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a form lying down on the couch. A smile curved his lips when he realized who it was.

Calleigh was sound asleep on the couch, a light blanket only half covering her body; the other half had slipped toward the floor. She lay on her side, hands tucked under her cheek, blonde hair splayed across her shoulder and back.

Eric's heart went out to her. She'd been working just as hard as he was, working the ballistics evidence from the thirty four bullets recovered from the scene and the six dead bodies.

Quietly he moved to her side. The warm glow of the light above the break room sink provided just enough light for him to be able to see her face. The smile on his face grew when he realized that she herself was smiling. He marveled at the fact that, despite the week they'd had, the long hours they'd worked on this case, she was smiling in her sleep. He chuckled softly as he remembered Speedle's words so long ago. _"She's way too cheerful." _No, she wasn't 'too cheerful', she was just right. In more ways than one.

Eric stood for several minutes, just staring at her, taking in her beauty without the fear of being caught by her, of having her see his innermost feelings of love and adoration for her, written so plainly on his face. He loved her. He'd accepted that fact a long time ago and was just patiently waiting for her to realize she loved him too… at least, he hoped against all hope that she did.

Hearing the coffeemaker sputter as the last of the coffee dripped into the decanter, Eric bent over her slightly and straightened the blanket over her body.

Calleigh gasped. "Oh… God… don't stop."

Eric dropped the blanket and shot back up as if stung by a jolt of electricity.

His heart was pounding, not just at her words, but because he could have sworn there was outright lust in her tone, in the way she spoke. It wasn't her usual light chipper tone, or her saucy teasing tone, but a breathy deeper tone, her southern accent drawn out.

Eyes wide, a mix of astonishment and curiosity on his face, Eric peered at Calleigh. She was still asleep, only now her lips were parted. Coffee forgotten, he squatted down to her level, head cocked to the side as he studied her.

A grin formed on his face when he noticed she was breathing more heavily, and when she moaned softly his mouth went dry. His mind filled with images of what she could possibly be dreaming about, to make her moan and breathe so heavily, wondering if it was as sexual as images he was conjuring up. He hoped to God it was him she was dreaming about.

Eric's heart skipped a beat and his own lips parted when her pink tongue darted out to moisten her lips. He watched as her tongue ran along her lips, as if in slow motion, back and forth, back and forth. Now _he _was breathing heavily, and he had to shift his stance when his pants began to tighten.

Eric's mind was screaming at him to get up and leave, not only because he was becoming aroused at his thoughts of him and Calleigh in a compromising position, but because he was now feeling slightly guilty at listening in on what could only be a very sexual dream. No doubt she would consider it an invasion of privacy if she knew he'd heard her in her sleep.

He was about to wake her up, pretend that he'd just walked into the break room, when she shifted, whimpered, and spoke three words that nearly stopped his heart.

"Eric… oh God," she moaned.

Stunned, mouth wide open in shock, Eric fell backwards on his butt. His lips quickly turned up in a smile at what he now knew. She _was_ dreaming about him. And it wasn't just any dream, but a dream in which they were obviously having sex. No, not just sex. It could never be 'just sex' with Calleigh. In her dream, he was sure they were making love. And if they were making love, then that had to mean she wanted him.

Eric grinned widely. Calleigh Duquesne wanted him. Calleigh Duquesne had feelings for him. Confirmation!

Before the dream could end and she woke up, before he was discovered watching her, creating what would be a very awkward moment, Eric stood to leave, adrenaline now coursing through him, his day now four hundred times better. Unable to help himself, he bent down and softly kissed her forehead, his breath gently moving the wisps of hair on her forehead.

Calleigh sighed contentedly when his lips touched her skin, and Eric knew then that he would spend the rest of his life trying to make her sigh like that on a regular basis. Not to mention getting her to moan his name and the words 'oh God' on a regular basis.

But first, he had to wait for her to admit her feelings for him. Oh yeah, he could wait. If it meant being able to make love to her like he did in her dream, he would most definitely wait for her. And with a grin he decided he would have to see to it that the wait wasn't a long one.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I originally planned Confirmation to be the one chapter I posted many months ago, I had no plans to continue it. But, so many people that reviewed it asked for more. Its taken me a long time to write the continuation, and for that I'm sorry. First I had to figure out where I wanted the story to go, then I had to get it there. I wrote the first part months ago, then set it aside because I wasn't sure how to go from there, nothing seemed to work. Then, a couple weeks ago I sat down with it again, and the story just flowed from there. It will be one more chapter, in addition to this one - but don't worry, its already written and will be up soon. I promise. Since its been so long since I posted the original story, I urge you to go back and read it before reading this chapter.

_Calleigh sighed contentedly when his lips touched her skin, and Eric knew then that he would spend the rest of his life trying to make her sigh like that on a regular basis. Not to mention getting her to moan his name and the words 'oh God' on a regular basis._

_But first, he had to wait for her to admit her feelings for him. Oh yeah, he could wait. If it meant being able to make love to her like he did in her dream, he would most definitely wait for her. And with a grin he decided he would have to see to it that the wait wasn't a long one._

Grin still plastered on his face, Eric quickly poured his cup of coffee and made a bee line for the exit, wanting to leave before Calleigh woke up. Without bothering to look where he was going, he opened the door and collided with, of all people, Maxine Valera.

"Whoa," Eric cautioned as her lithe body ran into his chest. Thankful he'd taken the few seconds it took to put a lid on the styrofoam cup, he held the cup higher, away from her body, and gently grabbed her arm to steady her. "Careful there," he chuckled, "You came close to getting third degree burns."

"Me careful," Valera exclaimed, glaring up at Eric. "Buddy, more like you should be careful. You damn near ruined my date tonight."

"Kind of late for a date isn't it?" Eric questioned as he moved past her.

Valera's eyes flitted briefly to the clock on the wall just inside the break room door. "No," she answered with a grin. "At this hour I'm just getting started." At that, she winked and turned, leaving a grinning Eric in her wake.

"Anyone I know?" he called out at her retreating form.

"Maybe," she answered cryptically, turning her head to give him another wink as the door closed behind her.

…

Mindful of the time, Valera headed for the refrigerator to retrieve her lunch bag. She'd brought her lunch today but had ended up having lunch with tonight's date instead. Who was she to refuse a lunch date from the very handsome but sometimes irritating as hell Ryan Wolfe? And that lunch date had turned into that night's date. Bonus! As she opened the refrigerator she ran through the various ways she could loosen him up that night. She grinned and her eyes had an extra sparkle as very erotic images popped up in her mind. Moaning inwardly she moved other lunch bags around, looking for her own.

She was about to wrap her fingers around the handle on her lunch tote when a soft sound reached her ears. Thinking she'd moaned out loud, Valera clapped a hand over her mouth and just stood there, bent toward the opened refrigerator, rolling her eyes at herself. When she heard the sound again she knew it wasn't her moaning and she turned quickly, refrigerator door slamming shut as her eyes scanned the darkened room.

Valera snickered when her eyes spied blonde hair spilled out over the side of the couch. Grinning from ear to ear at what she just _knew_ Calleigh was dreaming about, she crept quietly toward her and stood silently by the couch, watching her as she slept, as she dreamed. Bending closer to Calleigh's body, Valera took in her pink cheeks, parted lips, and the short panting breaths she was taking.

"Eric," Calleigh moaned, drawing out his name into two very long syllables. "Yes… right there," she whimpered as her back arched and her arm blindly reached out, colliding with the back cushion.

Valera quickly covered her mouth with a hand to stifle a squeal as she shot back up. Her shoulders shook and her other hand flew to her mouth to help stifle the laughter that she so wanted to burst out with. She turned around, then just as quickly turned back to Calleigh, suddenly and very uncharacteristically unsure of what to do next. She twittered, inside and out, shaking with the knowledge she now had and she thought she was just going to bust a gut if she couldn't tell someone what she knew; that Calleigh had it for Eric - and _bad -_ if her sex dream was any indication. Looking upward, she opened her mouth in a silent scream, fists clenched by her side, lightly stamping her foot in frustration.

Fishing her cell phone out of her pocket, Valera was about to call Ryan, get his help with a little match making when Calleigh moaned, loudly, lowly, and long. Not bothering to stifle her laugh, she bent and lightly shook Calleigh's shoulder.

"Calleigh," she called to her.

But Calleigh only moaned and moved closer to the back cushion.

"Calleigh!" This time Valera shook her a little more forcefully.

Calleigh startled awake, gripping the top and bottom cushions in her hands as she sat up and her bewildered gaze flitted about the room, finally settling on Valera's face. She deflated visibly.

Valera could only grin at the disappointed look on Calleigh's face. "Look, I know I'm not Eric, but…"

"What?" Calleigh interrupted, her eyes wide, heart thumping wildly. "Eric?"

Now Valera was laughing. "Yes, Calleigh… Eric. You were dreaming about him."

"How… how did you…?"

Valera snorted in reply. This was fun. Calleigh was clearly perplexed at being found out. She almost took pity on her friend… almost. "Calleigh, you were talking in your sleep, and I must say," she paused, a sly grin on her face and a devious sparkle in her eyes, "that must have been one hell of a dream you were having about him."

"Oh my God," Calleigh moaned as she sat back on the couch.

"Yep, that's pretty much what you were saying. Actually, I think you were trying to tell Eric where to…" She broke off when she noticed Calleigh's face turn ten shades of red. "Oh never mind!" She moved to sit next to her on the couch, checking the time on the clock as she sat down.

"What all did I say?" Calleigh asked, turning her head toward her friend.

"Not much more than what I've already told you. But then," she added, shrugging, "I wasn't in here that long." She watched silently as Calleigh whimpered and then brought her hands to her face and sat forward, elbows on her legs.

"I promise I won't tell anyone what I heard," Valera softly informed her.

Calleigh looked at her skeptically, eyebrow raised.

"Really," she said with a smile. She lifted her pinky finger toward Calleigh. "Pinky swear."

A smile curved the corners of Calleigh's lips as she lifted her own pinky finger, hooking it with Valera's. "Thank you, Maxine." She sighed. "At least Eric wasn't here to hear me talking in my sleep. I would just… die… if he knew I…" she ended on a whisper, unable to complete the thought out loud.

"Well, um… he _was_ here."

Calleigh's head reared back, a look of utter horror on her face. "What?!" she exclaimed, standing, beginning to panic.

"Now, Calleigh," Valera said as she grabbed Calleigh's arms. "It doesn't mean he heard anything. Maybe he wasn't in here long enough. Maybe you didn't say anything." She was babbling now, trying to alleviate Calleigh's fears. And yet, at the same time she was enjoying this. So, she had to needle a little bit. Letting go of Calleigh's arms she tapped her lips with a finger, pretending to concentrate. "Or… maybe you did." Her eyes were again twinkling with mischief. "Really… just what _were_ you doing in your dream? Because it sounded…" She paused for effect, then winked, "… kinky. I mean, you were telling Eric to put _something_…"

"Maxine!" Calleigh was horrified. Just what _had_ she said? The dream had been pretty erotic. It has been one of her many fantasies involving Eric. They were making love, not in a bed, but on a blanket on a secluded beach, with the sound of the ocean waves crashing on the shore in the background. And it had been mind blowing. It had been tender, sweet, loving, and charged with emotion. It had been just… perfect. That is, until Valera rudely interrupted. Giving a sigh she plopped herself back down onto the couch, covering her face with her hands.

Moving to sit next to her again, Valera gently gripped Calleigh's hands and pulled them away from her face. She waited until Calleigh looked her in the eyes and spoke softly, "You know, Calleigh, it doesn't have to be just a dream. You could have that."

"Maxine, I…"

She shook her head. "Look, its no secret how you feel about Eric. Don't even try to deny it," she commanded, voice raised, when Calleigh opened her mouth to speak. "I see the way you smile at him. You don't smile like that at Ryan," she raised her eyebrows, "… and you better not or I'd have to pummel you."

Calleigh looked momentarily stunned and then her look visibly softened. She tilted her head as she gazed at her friend, "Maxine, I didn't know you had a thing for Ryan."

"Uh uh," Valera admonished, shaking her finger at Calleigh. "Don't you even try to shift the topic of conversation onto me and Ryan. Nice try though. Let's get back to you and Eric and sex." She noticed Calleigh's walls immediately fall into place again, noted that stony look on her face that said denial was the next thing that would come out of her mouth.

That was it. Valera was frustrated. Absolutely done with it. She stood up, put her hands on her hips and looked at Calleigh sternly, and spoke with the same tone. "Calleigh, put yourself and Eric out of your miseries and just admit to him how you feel. You are in love with him. He's in love with you." She threw her hands up in disgust. "And I can't take the little puppy dog looks he gives you any more. In fact, if I see it one more time I'm going to puke, and I'm going to do it all over you and your beautiful shoes," her voice softened and she pointed down at Calleigh's feet, "… and by the way, I really do think you should share those with me." Her face hardened again, and she raised her voice, "So save yourself the pain and agony of smelling horrible and having to clean up such a mess. And for God's sake… and you know I'm not a religious person… go to him and tell him you love him and that you want to have lots of sex and cute little Cuban babies with him." And with that she turned on her heels and left the room.

For several minutes Calleigh just sat there in a daze, surprised at Valera's outburst. Surprised and mortified that she'd been caught having a sex dream, and with the participant in the sex dream now known to the lab's most notorious gossip. "Pinky swear," Calleigh whispered to herself, "She said pinky swear."

Calleigh sighed. All she wanted to do was go home and forget this had ever happened. She didn't even want to _think_ about what Eric may or may not have heard. But, wanting to finish the last of the ballistics evidence before she went home, Calleigh squared her shoulders and stood up, then quickly made her way back to the ballistics lab, hoping to God she didn't run into Eric along the way.

…

Having done all he could for one day, which wasn't much more than he'd accomplished earlier, Eric decided to go home and get some sleep. He'd been able to think of nothing else but Calleigh's dream, what he'd heard her say. He knew if he tried to process one more piece of evidence when his heart wasn't in it, he'd make mistakes.

Before he could go home, he wanted to check in on Calleigh, see if she was still there. Maybe he'd coax her into leaving, walk with her to her car. Perhaps he'd see if she'd agree to go get something to eat with him at the 24 hour diner nearby. He remembered his earlier resolve to get her to admit her feelings for him, and sooner rather than later.

With a smile on his face, remembering her dream and what she said, he made his way to Ballistics. If she was still at work, he knew he'd have a greater chance of finding her there.

Instead of walking right into the lab, Eric simply stood and watched Calleigh for several moments. He watched as she sat on a stool at a table, evidence bags and a stack of papers in front of her. She was bent over a report, seemingly working on it, but her pen was suspended in mid air, clutched between stilled fingers. Calleigh herself was looking at a spot on the wall opposite her, as if in deep thought; looking at, but not really seeing what she was staring at.

He wondered what she was thinking about, if she was remembering her dream, or if she was merely contemplating the ballistics evidence she'd processed.

Unable to wait any longer to be with her, to talk to her, Eric pushed the door open. "Calleigh, you're still here," he greeted her warmly, still smiling. He took in the way she quickly straightened up, blinked rapidly a few times and turned to look at him. She smiled at him, but he knew that smile. It wasn't her normal 'happy to see you' smile, but one of her forced smiles, the one she gave when she wasn't particularly happy to see someone, but felt it would be rude to _not_ smile.

"Hey, Eric," she said softly as she dropped her pen and tucked her hair back behind her ears. "I'm almost done with your ballistics evidence, just need to finish up these reports."

Warily, he moved to the other side of the table, wondering what was wrong. He knew she hadn't woken up when he was in the break room earlier, so that couldn't be what was bothering her. Deciding to ignore her mood, he looked at the various evidence bags in front of her. "Were you able to identify the types of weapons used? Match any of the bullet casings to the weapons we did find?"

Having him so close to her, after the dream she'd had and was sure _he_ knew she'd had, was unsettling and unnerving for Calleigh and she simply stared at him for a few moments until she realized he'd asked her a question. "Huh… oh yeah," she answered absentmindedly as she slid off the stool. "I um… I have it here somewhere," she added as she began to rifle through the reports.

Eric looked at her strangely. Calleigh would normally have given the answer right off the bat, without having to look at any report. It wasn't something she would forget. He moved around the table and reached out to touch her arm, but dropped his arm back by his side when she stiffened. "Cal, what's wrong?" he asked softly.

Ignoring his question, she continued to flip through the reports, still flustered at his proximity. "I know it's… I just…" she trailed off. _'God this is embarrassing,'_ she thought to herself as she felt a blush start to work its way up her neck, spreading out across her face. _'Why didn't I just leave when I had the chance?' _Becoming frustrated with herself, her inability to think straight, and the now obvious embarrassment she was wallowing in, she dropped the pile of reports and slapped her hand down on top of them. "Damn it," she muttered. To her consternation he only moved closer.

"Calleigh," Eric chuckled, taking his life into his own hand when he placed it down atop her hand, ignoring as she twitched in response. "What is the matter?"

"Nothing," was her quick patented response as she tried to slip her hand out from under his, frowning when he wouldn't let her.

"It's not nothing if you can't even remember evidence you finished processing some time within the past couple hours," he told her gently.

"I do too remember," she lied, and lied poorly, her face still burning with the damnable blush. She moved her hand out from under his and gestured lamely in his direction. "I just thought… that you'd want to see… you know, see the report."

Eric noticed her eyes land everywhere but on him. He could see she was trembling. It was almost imperceptible, but completely noticeable to him. A light went off in his head at what exactly was bothering her and he had to smother the grin that threatened to break out across his face. He was fairly certain that she knew he'd been in the break room and heard her talk in her sleep. No doubt Valera told her, and for once he was glad Valera put her nose where it didn't belong. A smile lit his face as he moved closer to her, bravely invading her personal space. "Oh yeah? What weapons were used?"

Calleigh fought the urge to step back and looked down at her feet as she frantically ran her earlier ballistics test through her mind. But her pounding heart at his proximity was making it hard to think. "Weapons?" she asked, stalling for time.

"Yes. Weapons."

"Well... one of them was a um…" she murmured, reaching out toward the pile of reports, cursing inwardly at her shaking hand before she quickly shoved her hand into her pocket, hoping to God Eric didn't see it.

But he did, and he was loving it. Eric could have just left her alone, let her off the hook, but that was the last thing he wanted to do. What he wanted was for her to admit how she felt about him, to come out and tell him that she wanted him. He _wanted _them to become a couple, to date. Hell, right now, more than anything in the world, he wanted to kiss her. But this wasn't the time for that. Besides, right now he was enjoying Flustered Calleigh.

"One of them was an 'um'? That's a new one for me, Cal," he chuckled, moving even closer to her. If he was really brave it would have taken only a slight twitch of his hand to make his fingertips brush against her hip, and it took a hell of a lot of willpower not to. Instead he continued to tease her. "What kind of bullets does an 'um' firearm take?"

Calleigh's mouth went dry, each intake of breath inundated her senses with his cologne and a scent she had come to know over the years as simply, uniquely, _Eric_, and damn it she loved the scent.

His proximity was undoing her, she couldn't think straight, couldn't form a coherent thought; could think only of him and what he was doing to her. But she hated feeling like this, hated not being in control, hated the undeniable fact that _he_ was enjoying the hell out of this. And damn it, her brain began doing funny things, had her blurting words she wasn't ready to confront. "You heard me talk in my sleep." It came out in a rush of words, as if her brain wanted to push them out before she recognized what it was doing.

Calleigh's heart tripped over itself, hard, like a jackhammer cutting into concrete. She was sure Eric could see it beating right through her shirt. Too late to take back the words, she'd just have to deal now. Eyes closed, she breathed deeply a few times to gain some semblance of control, and when she was sure her voice wouldn't waver, she finally looked up into Eric's eyes, gasping audibly at the difference in his eyes, his expression.

Gone was the grin, the mirthful twinkle in his eyes. Instead it was replaced with a look she'd seen before, saw for the first time so many years ago the night he'd taken care of her after she'd been dosed with cocaine. It was a mix of compassion, adoration, and love. And it made the next words to tumble off her lips a little easier to say. "I know you were there, in the break room…" she paused to lick her dry lips, "… while I was sleeping."

When the look in his eyes became too much, Calleigh averted her own eyes, looked back to the pile of reports on the table, but Eric denied her the ability to temporarily hide. With a finger under her chin he turned her eyes back to his. Bright emerald met soft brown.

Her eyes flickered from his eyes to his lips and back again to his eyes. And there went her brain again. "Did I talk in my sleep?" she whispered, and winced, closing her eyes, afraid to hear his answer.

"Yeah," he whispered in return, his voice gravelly, affected. He wanted her, wanted her bad, but he couldn't _have_ her until she was ready. But, that was his mission, to make her his. So with that in mind, he boldly reached out and cupped her face in his hands, hearing and feeling her breath hitch. "You did," he murmured, thumbs caressing her cheeks.

He let his hands drift down to her neck, his fingertips sliding slowly across her soft skin as he leaned in and pressed a light kiss to her forehead, right at her hairline. The full body shiver his sweet and innocent kiss elicited from her brought a smile to his lips and made him even more bold, more daring… for in the next instant he threw caution to the wind and dipped his head to capture her lips with his.

The kiss was soft, tender, heart felt. And if Calleigh thought she couldn't hold a coherent thought before, she was mistaken. As soon as his lips touched hers, she stopped thinking, stopped fretting, and just felt. Sensations rocketed through her, her nerve endings were on fire, and God help her, she whimpered. She didn't even try to stop it from pushing past her lips. And when he captured her bottom lip between his own, sucked on it, her knees betrayed her and she fell forward against him.

But Eric was there for her, as he always was. His arms wrapped around her waist as he gently pushed her back onto the stool, breaking the kiss as she sat.

And to her slightly embarrassed chagrin, she whimpered again at the loss of his lips against her own.

His lips were back on her forehead, his breath stirring the wisps of hair as his hands brushed her blonde locks back off her face. "You could have that every day… several times a day… if you'd just let me in," he murmured, his lips brushing her skin as he spoke softly.

Calleigh was breathing heavily, unable to think straight again. It was becoming a habit she wanted to break, and fast. She wanted to speak, wanted to say she wanted it too, all day every day, but nothing came out when she opened her mouth. Damn her brain! It had no problem earlier, speaking when she wasn't ready, but now… now that she wanted to say something, out came nothing. Nada. Diddly squat. _Damn it_.

Breaking away from her, Eric looked down at the pile of reports next to her and lifted up the one on top. "Here's the one you were looking for," he told her softly. He let go of it when she took it in her hand, and reached up with a trembling finger, lightly touching her slightly kiss-swollen lips. "Every day, Calleigh," he murmured, then turned and left the room.

Releasing the breath she didn't know she'd been holding, Calleigh licked her lips, still tasting him there. Trembling fingers found their way to her lips, for she could still _feel_ his lips there. His soft warm full lips pressed against her lips. The soft moan she let out bounced off the walls in the otherwise quiet room, startling her.

Taking a deep breath and shaking her head to dispel the sensual fog she was in, she placed the easy-to-find misplaced file back on the stack and picked up her pen. But it was no use trying to work; her heart just wasn't in it. Her heart was somewhere else…


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I must say, this story did get away with me when I went to continue it beyond the original - the original itself was only 1100 words, and yet chapters 2 and 3 combined are over 15,000 words. But, when it comes to Eric & Calleigh, I think that's a good thing. Oh, and I had to change the rating of the story from T to an M.

...

Calleigh sat for more than an hour in her car, parked outside Eric's condominium. It had been raining since she got there, a hard driving rain that pounded loudly on the roof of her car. Normally the sound of rain soothed her, calmed her, but tonight it only served to heighten the turmoil within her. The storm wasn't just raging outside, but inside her as well.

She knew what she wanted to do, she wanted to march right in there and tell him she loved him, that she wanted him to kiss her every day for the rest of their lives… among other things. But damn it those old fears kept her where she was, rooted to the seat and wishing to hell she could find the nerve to let go of the fear of losing her best friend, of losing herself, and just take a chance on love. What if she did take that chance and it didn't work out? What would happen to Eric? What would happen to her? What would happen to _them_?

Slumping in her seat, Calleigh stared balefully up at windows to his condo, three floors up, noting the light was on in his living room, the bedroom dark. When his living room light flicked off she sat up straight, slightly startled, heart pounding. It was now or never. In a moment of utter frustration at her inability to make a decision, she yelled "Damn it!" then yanked the car door open and stepped out, slamming it shut behind her.

By now the rain was coming down in torrents, thunder cracking seemingly overhead as lightning lit up the dark sky. Calleigh's shaky legs carried her through the downpour to the door of the condominium building and even though her heart was pounding as if it would pound right out of her chest, she didn't once turn and run back to her car, as her mind was screaming at her to do.

Within minutes a nervous yet soaking wet Calleigh Duquesne stood in front of four elevator doors, two on each side of the hallway, lifting a shaky hand to press the "up" button. Before she could touch it one of the elevators dinged its arrival. Taking a deep breath, she moved in front of the elevator door when it opened and was startled to find a couple inside, not moving to exit.

The couple was younger, probably by a good ten years, and Calleigh quickly realized the reason they weren't exiting the elevator was they were unaware the doors had even opened, unaware that a soaking wet woman stood before them, dripping water on the floor as she waited for them to exit. Unaware, because as the man leaned back against the elevator wall and the woman leaned into his lean body, arms around each other, soft smiles on their faces, they were completely enraptured with each other, merely staring into each other's eyes. Not even kissing, just staring. It was clear to Calleigh that a great amount of emotion, of love, flowed from one to the other, it was that palpable.

Calleigh knew she wanted all of that and more with Eric. She _wanted_ him to look at her like that. _"He already does," _she thought to herself. She wanted to return that look, but she wanted to do it without the fear that just as she had every previous relationship, she'd screw it up and end up losing the only man she'd ever truly loved unconditionally.

Fighting the urge to turn tail and run she cleared her throat to alert the couple to her presence, pressing her hand against the elevator doors as she did so. With the fleeting thought of leaving the building with the young couple, Calleigh punched the button for Eric's floor and sighed as the elevator began to rise.

"Too late to turn back now," she said as the doors opened on his floor. Shivering in her wet clothing, heart pounding with anticipation, she made her way down the short hallway to his door, and taking another deep breath, a hand over her heart to calm the beating, she hesitantly rang his doorbell.

The door opened moments later and much to Calleigh's chagrin, everything she was about to say died on her lips as she stood there, eyes wide, lips slightly parted, shivering even more as the blast of air-conditioned air from his condo hit her wet body. Apparently, her brain was unable to function at the sight that greeted her – a barefoot Eric dressed in a black t-shirt and well worn jeans that fit his hips like God intended them to fit. Suddenly it was too much. The fear began to niggle back in as she felt the urge to turn around and run, body twitching.

Luckily for her, the sight of a very wet, disheveled and shivering Calleigh Duquesne on his doorstep quickly prompted Eric into action. He'd opened the door without bothering to look through the peephole to see who it was and was startled to find Calleigh, soaked to the bone, wet hair plastered to her head, eyes large and luminous as she stared at him.

Grabbing her hand, Eric pulled her into his condo and shut the door with his foot as he turned to her. "Jesus, Calleigh," he began, hands already pulling at the tie on her jacket, trying to get the wet garment off of her. "You're soaked to the bone." He didn't bother to ask her why she was there, he knew why. He knew his words and his kiss had brought her to his door.

"I… I want…" she stuttered, teeth now chattering, fingers shaking as she tried to help Eric slip the large buttons on her jacket through the holes. Shaking her head she licked her lips and tried again. "Eric, I wanted…"

Her words were cut off when Eric gently placed his finger on her lips. "Shhhh, lets just get you out of these wet clothes and into something warm, before you get sick." Moving her hands out of the way he unbuttoned the rest of the buttons and peeled the soaking wet jacket from her equally wet body. The cotton jacket had done nothing to keep her clothing dry.

Dropping the jacket onto the tile floor to deal with later, and trying his hardest NOT to stare at the way her wet shirt clung to her body, he gently turned her toward the interior of his home. "Come with me," he murmured softly as grabbed her cold hand to lead her away.

He stopped short as she tugged on his hand, not moving from the spot where she stood. "Eric, I'm going to drip all over your carpet." He just fixed her with a gentle look that said he really didn't care about a few wet drops on his carpet and tugged lightly on her hand. Lips turning up into a slight smile, she took a moment to kick off her heels and then followed him down the hall toward his bedroom.

Just being in his bedroom was enough to overwhelm Calleigh. His scent surrounded her as she took in the furnishings, eyes alighting on the queen size bed that sat underneath a large window. Images from her earlier dream instantly filled her mind, and she had to close her eyes to stem the pounding in her heart, the rush of desire the images produced.

He led her into the master bathroom, only letting go of her hand to take a couple of soft brown towels out of the linen closet. He set one on the counter, and hung the other over the shower stall. Turning to her, he gently brushed a few wet strands of her beautiful blonde hair off of her face as he murmured to her, "Take a hot shower to help warm you up. Leave your wet clothes on the floor and while you're in the shower I'll bring you something dry to wear." Leaning forward slightly he brushed a soft kiss to her forehead, reveling in the slight shiver that coursed through her at his touch.

Calleigh trembled at the realization that bringing her dry clothes meant he would be in the bathroom as she took her shower. As she stood naked in his shower. But this was _Eric _and above all else she knew he would respect her privacy. She knew he wouldn't peek at her, but she also couldn't deny that a small part of her wanted him to. Glancing at the frosted glass shower stall she raised her eyes to meet his and nodded.

Smiling softly, Eric kissed her forehead once more before moving away from her, closing the door softly as he left her to her shower.

Calleigh took a moment to look around Eric's bathroom, never having seen it before. Sure, she'd been in his condo many times, but she had always used the bathroom in the hallway. She'd never been in his bedroom, or his bathroom and she couldn't help but take it all in.

The bathroom held a double vanity and a roomy shower stall, no tub, and she guessed the closed door in the bathroom led to the commode. The décor was simple, with beige and cream colors, and brown towels on the towel rod. Simple, yet masculine.

Wanting to be in the shower before he returned, Calleigh broke out of her reverie and quickly turned the shower on hot and peeled off her wet slacks and shirt, discarding them and her bra and panties on the floor as he'd told her to, but placing her panties and bra in-between the slacks and shirt. There was just enough demure southern belle in her right now to not want her lingerie to be on top of the pile. There was also enough in her for the fleeting thought to pass through her mind that she was glad she'd worn matching bra and panties. And she couldn't stop the smile that curved her lips at the thought of Eric's fingers touching her bra and panties.

Eric carefully selected one of his white button-down shirts and rummaged in the back of his underwear drawer for a smaller pair of boxer shorts. Thankfully he wasn't prompt about cleaning out his drawers of clothes he never wore or that didn't fit anymore. He stood by the bathroom door, waiting patiently for the water to turn on, then waited a few minutes more before he slowly opened the door, making sure she was in the shower before he entered.

An image of a very naked Calleigh occupying the space of his shower assaulted Eric as he entered his bathroom and though a part of him really wanted to turn his head toward the frosted glass shower stall, really wanted to see the silhouette of a naked Calleigh in his shower, he knew he couldn't, shouldn't… so he didn't. Instead he placed the shirt and boxers on the counter and picked up her wet clothes, exiting the bathroom as quietly as he'd entered.

He took her clothes to his laundry room and laid the garments on a drying rack so they could dry naturally. He was afraid to put them in the dryer, not knowing if doing so would ruin the clothing. A slight grin curved his lips as he placed her panties on the top of the rack, laying her bra next to it, and he couldn't help the warmth and desire that flooded him at that moment, couldn't help the images that filled his mind – images of Calleigh wearing the lingerie he placed on the rack. _God, I've got to stop doing that!"_ he thought to himself as he sent a hand down to adjust the arousal that now pressed against his jeans uncomfortably. Blowing out a breath, he turned out the laundry room light and headed for the kitchen.

Calleigh stood underneath the hot spray of water for nearly fifteen minutes, until she felt warm again. With a soft smile she picked the bottle of body wash off the shower rack and opened it up to sniff the scent, smiling even more when she confirmed it as a scent she associated with Eric. Her eyes closed as a feeling of comfort, of warmth, flooded her and she realized with a start that it was Eric's scent that brought out those feelings in her. Heart beginning to pound again at the realization, she picked up the bottle of shampoo and closing her eyes, sniffed it as well. Unbidden tears sprang to her eyes as the feeling intensified. Suddenly feeling silly, and embarrassed – which she realized was stupid because she was the only person in the room – she shook herself out of it and quickly washed her hair with his shampoo, her body with his body wash, wanting that feeling around her all the time.

Wrapping the fluffy brown towel around her small frame, she stepped out of the shower to find the white shirt and boxers lying neatly on the counter. Her gaze moved to the door as she realized Eric must have come and gone from the bathroom without her even knowing it. It warmed her to know that she knew Eric so well, knew that she could be comfortable being naked in his shower, with him being so close, and _knowing _he wouldn't take advantage of the situation – at least until she was ready for that. Her heart skipped a beat at the knowledge that she _wanted _him to take advantage of the situation; she wanted to _be _with him. And in the next instant Calleigh the Chicken took over and fear once again set in.

Cursing her inability to just let go when it came to Eric, she picked up his hair brush and marveled that he even owned one considering how short his hair was. She quickly brushed out her hair then slipped on his shirt and the too big boxers, smiling at her reflection in the mirror, secretly loving his clothes being on her body. After dutifully hanging the towel on the rod next to his towel, she took a deep breath and opened the door.

The light from the small bedside lamp cast a soft glow over his bedroom as Eric crossed the threshold into his bedroom, just as Calleigh came out of the bathroom. He stopped short at the sight of her in his clothes, a soft smile curving his lips. She'd rolled up the sleeves slightly, so that they fell to her wrist, and the tails of his shirt covered her to mid-thigh, giving him a wonderful view of her gorgeous legs. Instantly it became his favorite outfit of hers, and he decided that this was a sight he wanted to see every day – her in nothing but his shirt. Well, he knew she had on his boxers (he knew he would _never _part with those boxers once she went home) but those boxers were not a part of his new Favorite Outfit of Calleigh's.

With a nod of his head, Eric beckoned toward the bed. "Sit, I made you some hot tea." He smiled impishly. "I had some teabags in the back of the cabinet from when I tried to make some iced tea the last time you came over."

Before the thought that this was a bad idea could pass through her mind, Calleigh found her legs moving her closer and closer to the bed. Cursing herself, she slid gracefully onto the bed, settling against the pillows, tucking her legs beside her. "You did better than try, Eric," she told him softly. "The tea was pretty darned good, just the right amount of sweetness."

Eric thought her words and tone had just the right amount of sweetness too, then again just about everything about her did. "Here, drink this," he murmured as he handed the mug to her. "It'll warm you up some more," he added as he picked up the throw blanket off the foot of his bed and moved to lay it over her lap.

The sound of thunder rolling in the distance could be hears as Calleigh gripped the warm mug between the palms of her hands, her eye lids fluttering closed as the aroma of the tea drifted past her nose. "Mmmm, smells wonderful," she murmured as she blew lightly on the tea before slowly sipping the brew, a soft moan slipping past her lips as she savored the taste.

Eric froze momentarily when her soft moan reached his ears, the sound going straight to his groin, his mind immediately taking him back to the words she'd uttered in her sleep. "Calleigh," he breathed, "Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

At his words, she could do no more than stare at him, lips poised over the mug, ready to take another sip. That oh so familiar fluttering of butterflies in her stomach was back, fluttering in time with the beating of her heart. She itched to touch him, itched to reach out and pull him down onto the bed with her. Breath quickening, her mind screaming at her to leave, leave before things went further, before they crossed that line, but heart telling her to stay and take that leap, Calleigh closed her eyes and breathed deeply once, twice, a third time before her heart slowed and she calmed.

Calleigh opened her eyes and followed Eric as he sat down in front of her, tucking one leg in front of him and placing his right hand on the other side of her legs. "What's wrong, Calleigh?" he asked softly, his eyes searching hers. He already knew the answer, but he asked anyway, he wanted her to say it. "What brings you here tonight?"

Eric's proximity to her was unnerving, the familiar scent of his cologne overwhelmed her, wouldn't let her think straight. And she would blame that for the lack of control she seemed to have over her brain… and her mouth. "You're not mine," she blurted. Her luminous green eyes went wide and she clamped a hand over her mouth, shock registering in her rigid posture. In typical Calleigh fashion she placed the cup on the nightstand beside her and nervously tucked her hair behind her ears, bottom lip caught between her teeth.

Eric blinked, and blinked again, not sure he'd heard her correctly. But if the look on her face, the hand over her mouth was any indication, he _had _heard her correctly. His heart began to pound, so hard he was sure if he looked down he'd see his shirt moving in time with his heartbeat.

Watching her as she put the cup down, Eric took in the way Calleigh's hand trembled slightly and the way she bit her bottom lip as she tucked her hair behind her ears. He knew the words that slipped past her beautiful lips came directly from her heart, and he also knew she hadn't meant to voice the thought out loud. He could see it in her eyes that she wanted him, but he could also see it in her actions that she was afraid. Of what he wasn't entirely sure, but if he could help it, she wasn't leaving his home until he was hers. He just had to convince her to take that leap. "Calleigh," he whispered, heart pounding, his eyes searching hers, "I could be… yours."

"But, what if...," her words trailed off, unable to put her fears into words, her fears and her desires.

"What if… what, Baby," he murmured softly, the endearment slipping from his lips as if it was the most natural thing in the world, as if he always called her that.

Calleigh couldn't even begin to describe the rush of warmth that filled her, the way her heart soared at hearing him call her Baby. She couldn't have stopped the smile that now graced her beautiful face even if she wanted to. Unwittingly, he gave her the courage to say what she needed to say, to give voice to the fear that plagued her every time she thought about being with Eric.

Taking a deep breath, she reached out and clasped his hand, linking their fingers. "What if we do this," she began, motioning between them with her other hand, "and… and it doesn't work out." He opened his mouth to respond, but her finger on his lips stopped him.

Her eyes implored him for understanding. "I stink at… at relationships, surely you've seen that," she added, smirking, chuckling wryly. "I have quite the track record of failed…," she trailed off, shrugging.

"Cal-"

"You're my best friend, Eric. If we don't work, I'll lose not only my boyfriend but my best friend too. I can't… I…," her face contorted as her eyes filled, as she struggled not to cry. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath, then another. Blowing out a breath she opened her eyes to find Eric smiling softly. "I can't lose you," she whispered, shaking her head.

"Calleigh, what if you and I are _it_?" Eric asked, his voice soft, but pleading. "What if _we_ are the best thing that ever happens to us? What if we try this and it's everything we've ever dreamed _it _would be." Gently he squeezed the hand he still held in his own. "Baby," he breathed, pausing when she whimpered softly at the use of the term again. "If we don't give this a try, will you look back ten years from now and regret it? I know I don't want to wake up ten years from now, next to a woman I'm not in love with, wondering if we could have made it work, still searching for _it_."

Calleigh's heart skipped a beat at the mere thought of him waking up next to another woman, and as sure as she knew her own name, she knew _she _wanted to be the one waking up next to him ten years from now.

The room was silent, the only sound was their breathing, Eric's deceptively calm and even, Calleigh's uneven, hitched. He waited, waited for her to say something, do something, anything that would give him an indication that she…

Her voice was soft, almost a whisper, when she interrupted his thoughts. "Earlier today you told me… you said I could have you… your…" she broke off as if afraid to say the word, her gaze dropping to their linked hands.

"Kisses?" he supplied for her, his voice deep, affected, heart pounding in anticipation.

"Yeah," she breathed, sighing. Slowly her eyes met his, "I… I want that. I want your kisses every day…several times a day," she finished with a tremulous smile. "Just…"

Finally, Eric couldn't take it any more and decided to make up her mind for her. With a sudden and yet surprisingly smooth movement, he leaned in and captured her lips, taking Calleigh completely by surprise.

Calleigh gave a gasp of surprise at the feel of his lips on hers, and then a soft moan at the punch of heat that went straight to her belly as his mouth crashed down on hers. To Eric's utter delight she leaned slightly into him as she kissed him back and shivered at the fast and reckless sizzle of heat that zipped through her blood, letting herself drown in it for a few mad moments. Little did he know that she'd been secretly dying to kiss those oh so delectable lips for years.

The feel of her soft lips against his was everything he dreamed it would be, and more. Her sweet taste, something he'd wondered about for years, was something he was now addicted to, something he knew he would never be able to do without. But damn the need for oxygen in order to breathe. Slowly he broke the kiss and leaned back to gaze into Calleigh's eyes.

And the image he saw would forever be imprinted in his mind, to recall any time he thought about their first, well, second kiss. Her cheeks were infused with pink glow, her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted, and he watched, entranced, as her eyes slowly fluttered open, and warm brown met dazed emerald.

"Do that again," she murmured breathlessly, and Eric didn't hesitate to grant her request.

Eric itched to touch her, wanted to feel her soft skin against his fingertips, but was afraid to go too far too fast. His fingers played along her own, dancing across the sensitive skin, communicating without words a bit of the desire that gripped him as their lips mingled again, and again. Any other man might have been embarrassed and want to turn in his Man Card at the way he whimpered quite audibly when Calleigh wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned further into him, her tongue dancing across his full bottom lip. But not Eric, he wasn't afraid to show her just exactly how she affected him. He'd only dreamed of having her arms around his neck, having her silently, erotically, asking to tangle her tongue with his. The fingers that moments ago had itched to touch her flew to her back as he parted his lips, his palms flitting over every inch of her back, dying to slip underneath the shirt, but holding back. Instead he let his fingers drift down her sides to her bare legs, and in a feather light touch, drew them up and down her legs, eliciting tiny shivers and more goose bumps in their wake.

The feel of Eric's fingertips gliding across her bare legs in a slow caress from her calves to her thighs brought a shiver to Calleigh's small frame. His touch aroused her like none she'd ever felt before, no one had ever before had her trembling, whimpering with only the slightest of touches. When her mind conjured up an image of him gliding those same fingertips across her bare breasts, she moaned heavily, nipples hardening to tiny pebbles, and she unconsciously leaned into him further, crushing her breasts against his chest.

The unmistakable feel of her hardened nipples against his chest drew a matching moan from Eric and without hesitation he wrapped his arms around her, and shifting, lay her back on his bed as he drew the light blanket away from her body. He lay alongside her, leaning against her body as he brought one hand up to brush through her silky soft strands of gold, his other hand at her hip. He brought his lips to hers and kissed her softly, sweetly, telling her without speaking just how much he loved her, something he knew he couldn't yet voice.

Breathing heavily, he began to pull back, loving it when she grasped the back of his neck, pulling his face down to hers to reconnect their lips. "Calleigh," he breathed, when their lips parted, "I have to know. Is this what you want?"

Calleigh was too distracted by his lips to answer right away, but when his question finally registered with her desire-addled brain, she raised her eyes to his and murmured, "If you heard me talking in my sleep, then you know the answer."

It was more than Eric could take, being this close to her, the sound of her thickened accent turning him to mush inside, her scent intoxicating him, and her acknowledgment that she wanted this too. Moving his hand from her hip to her face, he was unable to conceal the slight tremble as he caressed her cheek with his fingertips. His voice was thick with desire when he whispered her name, "Calleigh." It was all he could manage to say.

Her gaze once again drifted to his lips, the lips she couldn't seem to get enough of, and with a low moan she raised her head to capture them again. It was when Eric shifted slightly, moving one leg to settle between hers that she pulled back from the kiss on an arch of her back, another soft moan slipping past her lips. The feel of his denim clad leg brushing against her core through the thin material of his shirt sent heat zipping through her, and settling in a rush of moisture to the one place she craved him the most.

"I want you," he murmured thickly as he gazed deep into her glazed green eyes, shifting to grind his hips against hers, his aroused state unmistakable, and earning himself a soft gasp from her kiss swollen lips. "God, I want you."

His declaration could be taken any number of ways, but the motion of his hips against hers left no doubt in Calleigh's rapidly deteriorating mind as to his meaning. Her breath came in short gasps, her mouth like cotton, and she licked her lips to moisten them. "Then take me," she moaned in reply, lifting her hips against him as she once again reached up to kiss him deeply.

Eric had been utterly mesmerized at the way her eyes turned a deeper shade of green before him, and his own mouth dried when her pink tongue flicked out to lick her lips. He couldn't help the low growl when she urged him to take her and then reached up to kiss him. With everything in him he kissed her back, shifting to more fully cover her body with his own.

A soft whine of displeasure floated to Eric's ears when he parted from Calleigh's lips, but that whine turned to a pleasured moan when his lips trailed soft wet kisses across her jaw line to her ear, and she couldn't stifle the gasp when his teeth nipped lightly at her ear lobe. He mentally catalogued the sound as one of his favorites, the spot as one that would make her shiver with need.

Eric's fingertips explored every inch of her skin he could reach, his mouth following to lave each spot with dewy wet kisses. Slowly he explored every inch of her neck and that part of her chest that wasn't covered by the soft white material of his shirt, learning what spots elicited a shiver or a tremble, which spots produced a gasp, and which spots made her back arch into his touch.

Rising up he looked down at her body, that part of her body he longed to touch but couldn't see. Slowly, oh so slowly, he drew his fingertips down the valley between her breasts, then across to brush against the swell of her breast. With heavy eyelids and quickened breaths through parted lips, he took in the way her body trembled, watched as a nipple pebbled against the fabric. The knowledge of the affect he had on her just by brushing his fingers against the covered swell of her breasts had him looking up into her eyes as he brushed his fingertips against the nipple, reveling the way she gasped and arched her back into his touch, hungry for more. Wanting to give her more he reverently brushed his fingertips against her other breast, then lowered his head to lick its hardened tip through the cotton, earning himself a soft cry as her hands flew to the back of his head, holding him there.

Breathing heavily he looked up into Calleigh's glazed green eyes, silently asking permission, permission she granted by just as silently moving her fingers to the first button she'd fastened earlier.

Eric brushed her fingers aside and murmured, "Let me," before he slowly slid the first button open. He kept the sides of the shirt together until the last button was unfastened, then leaning up slightly he held her gaze as he slowly and reverently drew the two sides apart.

Lowering his head once again he took her lips in a soft sweet kiss, then drew back and let his gaze wander slowly down her body, watching as goose bumps flared across her skin, as her chest rose and fell with each heavy panting breath she took, heard her breath hitch as his fingertips followed his adoring gaze.

His own breathing quickened as he gazed at her uncovered breasts, and he couldn't help but lick his lips as he took in the rosy nipples before his fingertips continued down her taut belly, smiling at the way her muscles quivered in response. "God, you're beautiful," he murmured.

Calleigh was on fire, on fire for Eric and his touch, her reactions involuntary. She couldn't help the way her hips undulated against him as his touch moved to the waistband of the boxer shorts she wore, nor could she help the soft cry when his touch skimmed over her core and continued down her inner thigh.

Shifting as the jeans he wore pressed uncomfortably against his erection, Eric lowered his lips to cover hers, kissing her deeply as he rid her body of his shirt, swallowing her whimper as his hand coasted back up her body to cup her breast, testing its weight in his palm and squeezing gently before he parted from her lips, earning himself another whimper. The soft mewl of pleasure he received when his lips attached themselves to the same breast, as his hand moved to lavish attention to its mate, went down in his mental catalogue of moves to make Calleigh crazy.

Calleigh's soft sighs, gasps, and moans filled the air, mingled with Eric's moans as he swirled his tongue over her breasts, moving lower to lavish every inch of her skin with attention. Her hands flitted from the bed to his arms, his shoulders, the back of his head to hold him in place, then finally down his back to the hem of his t-shirt. He shivered as her touch moved underneath his shirt, to the bare skin of his back and moved upward, bringing his shirt with her.

Eric separated his lips from her body long enough to allow her to pull the shirt over his head. He could have died when, after tossing his shirt aside, she reared up and nipped his shoulder. The shock of it went straight to his now throbbing erection, and with a possessive growl he quickly moved down and brushed his open mouth over her covered center, feeling the heat of her arousal.

Calleigh's cry rent the air at the feel of his mouth against her. She burned from the inside out, wanting more, more of his hands, more of his mouth on her. She arched toward him, demanding more, trembling as his hands slowly drew the boxer shorts she wore down, down her legs and off her body, leaving her blissfully naked before him.

God help him, but he couldn't stop himself leaning up, hovering over her as his eyes hungrily raked over her body, as he took in and memorized every inch of her beautiful soft skin, committing to memory the way she looked as she lay beneath him. He raised his eyes to hers and whispered her name, desire coating each syllable as it crossed his lips.

In a slow graceful movement, Calleigh arched her back, raised her hips toward him, asking him for more, and sighing when he granted her wish.

Eric's fingertips once again skimmed over Calleigh's inner thigh as he took teasing nips from her flesh, laving each spot with his tongue to soothe the places he nipped as he slowly made his way toward the spot she wanted him most.

She shuddered, moaned, her body quaking, fingers gripping the comforter beneath her when he drew his lips through the soft hair above her center, then down to press ever lightly against her lips, once again feeling her heat. Her hands flew to his head when his mouth finally claimed her, when his tongue delved beneath to taste her. She moaned again as his touch brought another rush of moisture to her core, as her body throbbed for his touch.

If there was ever anything in his life that Eric was addicted to, it was now Calleigh's taste. He hoped to God there was no twelve step program to get over such an addiction, and if there was, he certainly didn't want it.

Eric's own body shuddered at the realization of just what he did to her, how much his touch had affected her. She was hot and wet and he couldn't get enough. As he lapped at her, drawing his tongue over her engorged clit, dipping down to enter her, and back again, he drew a hand down to hastily rid himself of his now way-too-tight jeans, shivering when he felt her feet join him in trying to push his jeans and boxers down over his hips and legs.

Calleigh's moans and whimpers grew in pitch and frequency as she drew closer to the edge of bliss and her back arched, head thrown back, when he drew a finger through the moisture he found and slowly pushed inside, drawing an eager moan from her. He drew a breathy "Eric… ah yes, Eric!" from her when a second finger joined the first in its slow movement in and out of her body, and his tongue flicked across clit, her hips undulating in time with thrusting of his fingers.

Eric's eyes had rolled back into his head at the feel of her tight slick warmth around his fingers, and although he desperately wanted to bury his cock inside her, he held out, for he'd been fantasizing about doing this to her for years, ever since the first time he'd seen her take a shooter's stance and aim at a target in the ballistics lab.

When he sensed her getting closer to the edge he moved his tongue to nip her thigh, slowed the movement of his fingers almost to a stop, and earned himself a whimper of displeasure. But, just as quickly, his tongue was back, his fingers resumed their rhythm.

Again, as she reached the precipice his tongue moved away, his fingers slowed, and again she whimpered, raising her hips to seek out his touch, sighing when his tongue and fingers resumed their teasing play. And when Eric teased her a third time by drawing his erotic attention away, she groaned, the groan turning into a long moan when it was back, tongue and fingers moving even faster.

Almost immediately Calleigh felt the shimmers of an orgasm begin low in her belly, radiating out through her body as the waves crashed through her, her head thrashing from side to side, one hand gripping the comforter in a death grip, the other cupping Eric's cheek as he slowly brought her back down to earth with soft kisses and gentle brushes of his mouth against her.

Calleigh fought to catch her breath, eyes and hands roaming his muscular body as he covered her. "Eric… God," she gasped out, licking her lips to moisten them.

Eric grinned as he gazed down at her flushed face, memorizing the way she looked – flushed skin, a light sheen of perspiration covering her, eyes blurred, hair tussled, lips parted, breathing hitched – in a nutshell she looked absolutely adorable, and if he hadn't been in love with her before, he would have fallen in love with her now.

Calleigh shuddered at the need she saw reflected in his eyes as the chocolate brown orbs gazed down at her. She was sure that same need was reflected in her own hazy green eyes.

"Calleigh… Baby, I need you," he whispered, his body trembling with the need to be buried in her slick warmth, the warmth he'd felt with his fingers.

And there was that name again, a name she secretly enjoyed when it came from his lips. Never before had she liked being called that by anybody, and Hagen had definitely tried… once and only once. But when it came from Eric, especially in that low bedroom voice she knew would be her weak spot, it only made her shiver, made her heart swell, made her feel all gooey and feminine.

In a wordless acquiescence, she lifted to him, opened for him. And when he shifted, positioned herself at her entrance, the 'oh' was already forming on her lips. When he finally entered her, the 'oh' turned into a moan as her eyes fluttered closed, her back arched, her hips lifting to meet his thrust.

A long guttural moan rose within Eric as he felt her slick heat for the first time, as he sank slowly inside, with one word filling his mind. _Finally_. When he was snugly, deeply inside her willing body he stopped, eyes closed, breathing deeply in and out as he fought to control the urge to come right then and there.

When he felt Calleigh's fingers flex against his hips he opened his eyes, and unable to help himself he leaned down and captured her lips with his, kissing her softly as he began to move.

Deep stark pleasure flooded Calleigh, swept her away as he moved in and out of her body. The utter bliss of giving her body to him moved her almost to the point of tears. She took a deep breath and swallowed around the lump in her throat as her hips rose to meet him, thrust for thrust, closing her eyes until the tears went away.

If Calleigh thought Eric hadn't noticed her eyes fill, she'd have been wrong, because he did notice, and just the knowledge of how their coming together for the first time affected her undid him. With a slight shift of his body he moved one arm under her shoulders, the other under her hips until his palm cupped a butt cheek, and gently he settled himself atop her body, cradling her against him as he moved, cradling her as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her with everything he had in him.

They moved in unison, like a poetic dance, as if their bodies had always been meant to be together like this. Needing him closer, deeper, Calleigh moved a leg around his hips, the new angle of his thrusts sending him deeper, adding pressure to her clit, and sending her into a sensory overload. "Eric," she moaned, "Eric… oh God," and her breath hitched on a desperate moan.

Eric's eyes rolled back in his head and he moaned loudly, the repetition of the words she'd spoken in her dreams hitting him with a surge of warmth, of love, and he growled as he quickened his pace, thrusting harder, faster, moving the hand around her shoulders to join his other hand gripping her butt, pulling himself impossibly deeper, hitting the sweet spot with each and every stroke.

The feel of his hands on her butt, the deeper thrust of his body, his breath panting warmly in her ear, catapulted her over the edge and she came with a sharp cry, body trembling, hands gripping his biceps, lips murmuring his name over and over.

He watched her crest then felt her fly over the edge as she squeezed around him, taking in the arch of her throat as she threw her head back, the blur of her eyes as she gazed up at him. He kissed her then, one last kiss before he plunged into her hot slick depths and came with a shout of her name.

His hips continued to move but in a much slower pace as she came down from the high, and he shivered when her breath hitched on a long low moan. Finally, spent, he collapsed on top of her, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck, enjoying the feel of her hands caressing his back as he struggled to breathe in oxygen.

After several long moments Eric moved to lift off of her, shifting his hips to pull out, but stopped when Calleigh's arms banded around him.

"No, not yet," she whispered, pressing her palms against the small of his back and lifting her hips to keep him inside of her.

He smiled against her skin and pressed a sweet kiss to the spot just below her ear, once again loving the shiver that coursed through her at the touch.

Her hands caressed over his shoulders to his back as she basked in the warmth of his trembling body pressed into hers. Turning her head, she pressed a kiss to his cheek before once again enveloping him in her arms, holding onto him tightly as her own body trembled beneath him, as the afterglow began to settle in for both of them.

After several minutes of laying in each others arms, basking in the delicious afterglow, Eric slipped out of her, the sound of her soft whimper accompanying him as he shifted to lie alongside her body. His hand moved in a light caress across her sensitized skin until he settled his palm against her hip, and he kissed her lips when, to his eternal joy, she turned toward him and tangled their legs as she wrapped her arm around his waist, settling her head next to him on his pillow.

Eric could do no more than stare into her deep green eyes, the knowledge that he'd just made love to the woman of his dreams, his Calleigh, leaving him unable to speak for several moments. Finally he raised a shaky finger to caress across her cheek as he tucked an errant lock of blonde behind her ear. "Being with you," he whispered, then stopped, shook his head, and kissed her. "Being with you… is just…"

"Better than I ever imagined it would be," she whispered back, finishing for him, to him.

He could only nod his reply as he oh so slowly re-connected their lips in a kiss that was soft, slow, and full of meaning, full of words neither was ready to speak just yet, but both felt in the deepest recesses of their hearts.

The kiss broke when Calleigh's stomach rumbled audibly, and slightly embarrassed, she turned her head into his neck.

With a chuckle, Eric ran his hands down her back to settle on her perfectly rounded butt cheeks. "Hungry, baby?"

Calleigh shrugged in response, "Yeah… haven't really eaten since breakfast." Even though she was hungry, she wasn't ready to leave his arms. She wanted to stay right where she was, wrapped within Eric's strong arms, legs and hearts entwined. "But I don't want to move just yet… I want to stay right here," she confessed, cheeks tingeing with a beautiful blush.

"You are so beautiful," Eric whispered as he pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. "How about I make us a late dinner?" Knowing her and her dietary habits, he knew she wouldn't want anything heavy at this late hour. "I can make a mean grilled cheese sandwich."

The smile that curved Calleigh's lips was contagious, and Eric couldn't help but smile back at her. "Mmmm, sounds delicious," she murmured, pressing herself closer to his body as her stomach betrayed her and rumbled audibly again.

Eric shifted until he covered her body once again, pressing her into the mattress. Cupping her face in the palms of his hands, he kissed Calleigh soundly. "Come on," he murmured, when the kiss broke, "Let's get some food into you."

Sitting up, Eric took her hand and pulled her up and then off the bed with him. Releasing her hand he bent to pick up his white shirt and the boxers he'd given her to wear and then discarded on the floor in the heat of passion. With a playful wink he tossed them at her then bent to retrieve his jeans and slipped them on, leaving his boxers where they lay.

Turning, he found Calleigh still stark naked, shirt and boxers clutched in her hands as she gazed at him. Realizing he was finished dressing she blinked a couple times and blushed. She'd been busted staring at him, watching him as he'd dressed, watching the way his muscles moved as he stepped into his well worn jeans, loving the way the jeans curved around his butt.

With a knowing smile, Eric chuckled at the look of embarrassment on her face and closed the distance between them. Gently he pried her fingers from the shirt and slipped it onto her arms, but before he could fasten the buttons for her, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his, pressing her lips to his in a soft sensual kiss.

His hands settled on her bare hips, then curved around to cup her butt cheeks, deciding right then and there that this was now his favorite place on her body for his hands to be… well, unless they were making love, and then there would be other "favorite places" for his hands.

Calleigh broke the kiss, and drew her hands down his arms to settle on his hips. "Okay, I'm ready now," she murmured with a smile.

"Not quite," he murmured in that sexy bedroom voice that tugged at her, turned her insides to jelly. His long fingers slowly, but deftly, fastened enough buttons on the shirt to make her decent, then took the boxer shorts she still held in her hands and dropped them onto the floor. She didn't need them anyway. "Now, you're ready."

Entering the kitchen, Eric headed for the cabinet that held his griddle while Calleigh moved toward his pantry, exiting a moment later with a loaf of bread. She dropped it onto the island and flashed him a smile before turning toward the refrigerator. He watched as she moved around his kitchen with ease, loving how comfortable she seemed moving about his home, as if she belonged there… and to him, she did.

Eric reached into a drawer and pulled out a knife as Calleigh dropped a big tub of butter and several slices of cheese next to the griddle that now occupied one end of the kitchen island. "Oh, plates," she exclaimed, turning to retrieve them from a cabinet as Eric set about buttering the slices of bread.

Butter knife poised over a slice of bread, eyebrow cocked, a smile on his lips, for he knew she was naked underneath the shirt, he watched as she reached for the plates that sat on the middle shelf, stretching onto her toes to reach them. His lips parted as the tails of his shirt rode up and up. He almost groaned out loud when the tails rode up to just under the curve of her ass, before moving back down her slim legs as she pulled the plates out.

Calleigh caught the look on his face when she turned and moved to place the plates down next to him. "What?" she asked, a mirthful smile on her lips. She'd seen him look at her like that before, and while before it made her nervous, now it made her almost giddy, school girl giddy. God, she had it bad.

"I was just admiring the view," he chuckled. "That shirt looks better on you than it ever did on me."

"Well, stop," she admonished teasingly, poking his side, her smile negating her rebuke. "You're supposed to be making me a sandwich."

"Yes, ma'am," he apologized as placed a buttered slice of bread on the griddle. He gave her a mock pout, and to his delight, she giggled.

Lifting herself up onto the counter behind Eric, Calleigh watched as he prepared the sandwiches for the griddle. Her eyes wandered over his workspace and lingered on a short glass vial to the right of the stove with what appeared to be white crystals inside. She reached over and grasped the container and opened the top, sniffing at the crystals. Her nose recognized the tell-tale scent of the sea and her mind supplied the word for what her hands held: sea salt. The smell of the sea salt called to mind the evocative scent of the ocean and suddenly it wasn't the salt shaker she was staring at, but an image of her dream, of them making love on the beach. "Do you… have you ever dreamed… about us, I mean," she asked shyly, looking up at him from under her eyelashes.

Eric looked back at her with a sly smile as he set the knife on the counter. Turning to her, he moved between her parted legs, settling his hands on her thighs. "Many, many times," he murmured, dropping a kiss to her lips as his hands slid to her hips and he tugged her closer. Thumbs softly caressed her hips as his lips dropped dewy kisses across her cheek and down to her ear. "Tell me about your dream," he whispered before sucking a kiss below her ear, feeling the shiver he knew the kiss would produce.

Calleigh's cheeks flushed pink at the memory. "Well," she began softly, wrapping her arms around his neck and crossing her ankles behind his back, enveloping him in an embrace. "In this dream…"

"_This _dream?" Eric interrupted, realizing it hadn't been the first time she'd had a sex dream about him.

Calleigh's eyes widened and the blush bloomed out across her chest when she realized just what she'd divulged. "I..." she stopped, a shy embarrassed smile lifting her lips as she dropped her head onto Eric's shoulder, hiding her face.

Eric gently gripped her arms and pulled her back. He smiled warmly as he reached up to tuck errant strands of blonde behind her ear, fingers gliding lightly along the shell, feeling the light shiver his touch produced. Warmly, his brown eyes searched her green eyes. "Don't be embarrassed, Babe," he implored as his hands caressed down her arms to her thighs, fingertips dancing under the hem of his shirt to caress her soft skin. "Do you have any idea what that does to me," he murmured huskily, leaning forward to softly plant wet kisses along the column of her throat and down to her pulse point. "What it feels like to know that you have dreams like that about me?"

Calleigh shuddered, leaning into his touch as his voice rumbled along the skin of her neck, couldn't help but moan softly as his fingers skimmed higher and higher under the shirt. "Okay," she whispered, voice breathy, affected. "So it wasn't the first time…" she paused, trembling when his touch reached her apex, "…I've dreamed about us making love on the…"

"Making love," he murmured against her skin, interrupting her again and pulling back to gaze at her, his twinkling eyes matching the grin on his face. Just the thought that Calleigh dreamed of them not "having sex" but to actually be making love moved him, made him love her all the more, made him want to sing out to the heavens that he loved this woman. "Calleigh," he whispered, hands moving from beneath the shirt to cup her face in his hands, "To make love there has to be…" he stopped short of saying the word, knowing it wasn't time yet, knowing she wasn't ready yet, but his eyes voiced it for him.

She smiled tremulously, her eyes filling. "Yeah," she whispered, the sound barely audible in the otherwise silent kitchen.

Eric's lips crashed down on hers as he wrapped his arms tightly around her, bringing her body flush against his own. His kiss was deep, possessive, and the whimper of delight he drew from her made him shudder with a desire so consuming that he could only release her lips long enough to drag the shirt off over her head, not taking the time to unfasten buttons, before he crashed his lips back down on hers.

They were both naked before Calleigh could catch her breath. With a long low moan she wrapped her legs around Eric's waist and braced her hands on the edge of the counter as she lifted and impaled herself on his hard length, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she settled him deep within her body.

With a groan Eric gripped Calleigh's hips and pressed her against the edge of the counter for leverage as he shifted his hips, slipping almost the whole way out of her warmth before slowly thrusting back in. The friction was just as amazing as it had been the first time, the feel of her slick heat around his erection, her breasts pressed against his chest, sending shivers down his back as he continued to move in and out, in and out.

The easy rhythm Eric established quickly grew frantic as he strove to slake his thirst for her, pounding into her as her soft cries spurred him on. But the counter at Calleigh's back soon began to rub against her spine, leaving pain at her back as her front received the most delicious torture. Keeping one arm around his shoulder, Calleigh brought her other hand to the counter behind her, trying to push herself away from it. "Eric," she gasped out, "Eric… hurts."

Without separating their bodies, Eric moved them away from the counter to the kitchen table, kicking a chair out of the way as he set her down on the edge. Immediately Calleigh lay back, reaching out to grip edge of the table as he resumed thrusting and sent a hand down between her legs to tease her clit with his thumb.

Feeling the tremors of her eminent release begin to shimmer deep within her, Calleigh raised a leg to lie on his shoulder. The new angle had her crying out, grinding her hips against him.

"God… Cal," Eric gasped out brokenly as the new angle sent him impossibly deeper. With a grunt he gripped her other leg, moving it to lie on his other shoulder. Then, gripping her hips in his hands he moved her body up and down against his groin, the action accomplishing what his thumb had been doing, and drawing cries of ecstasy from Calleigh.

Eric grunted as he continued to thrust once, then twice, a third time before Calleigh came with a cry of his name, her muscles convulsing around his length. The exquisite feel of her contracting around him brought on his own blistering release, and he came with a shout, continuing to move her body along his until the tremors ceased.

"Jesus," Calleigh moaned as she moved her legs off Eric's shoulders, laying her feet on his chest as she gazed up at him with a satiated smile on her lips.

Feeling the need to have her in his arms, he pulled her up and into his embrace, nuzzling his lips in her soft hair as his arms banded around her, as the scent of burned grilling assaulted his senses. "We forgot the grilled cheese sandwiches," he murmured against her hair.

"That we did," she replied as she looked around his back at the griddle. The sandwiches were definitely charred.

"Want to order pizza?"

Moving her arms to his shoulders, she leaned up and kissed him sweetly. "No," she finally replied with a shake of her head. "Its late, why don't we just… go to bed," she finished with a quirk of her eyebrow that told him she had more than just sleeping in mind.

"Sounds like a plan," he murmured in reply, giving her the smile he seemed to reserve for her, and only her. Gliding his hands down her back, he settled them under her butt and lifted her off the table, letting her slide down his chest as he set her on her feet.

Calleigh quickly put the butter away while Eric unplugged the griddle and threw away the charred excuse for grilled cheese sandwiches. Leaving their clothes where they lay on the kitchen floor, Eric gathered her in his arms and carried her back to his bedroom.

...

Hours later they were ensconced in his bed, the light from the moon the only light in the room, the rain long gone. Eric held her, his arms enveloping her, his hand sliding soft and warm over the bare skin of her back, the sheet pooled just under her hips, affording him a nice view of the long lean line of her back, and a hint of the curve of her beautiful derriere.

"Can I ask you a question?" Eric asked softly, feeling her warm breath coast across his chest.

"Of course," she whispered in return, fingers drawing random patterns across his chest.

"What made you come here tonight, I mean after I kissed you in your lab, what was it that finally made you want to… you know, take a chance on us?"

She pressed a slow kiss to his chest as she gathered her thoughts. "Well, it started with Valera, and then ended with you."

"Valera?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "She heard me talking in my sleep too. In a nutshell she told me to put ourselves out of our collective miseries and tell you that I…," she paused tucking her hair behind her ear and spoke her next words in a rush, as if she were afraid they'd get caught in her throat if she didn't say them fast enough. "That I love you, and I want to have lots of sex and cute little Cuban babies with you."

Eric laughed out loud at Valera's antics, and mentally reminded himself to thank her the very next time he saw her. He'd known for a long time that he wanted Calleigh for the rest of his life, and had already dreamed many times about the children they would have, how they'd look… his dark skin, their hair a mixture of his brown and her blonde, and her green eyes. They'd be beautiful alright. "Do you -" he blurted, then catching himself, drifted off, afraid to scare her with talk of children.

"Want to have lots of sex and cute little Cuban babies with you?" she supplied for him.

"Yeah."

She was silent for a while, but he knew she would answer since she asked the question, so he just waited, gave her the time she needed as he continued to caress her back, his touch moving progressively lower until it skimmed lightly over her bare buttocks.

"I do," she whispered, unwittingly sending an image to Eric's mind of her in a long white dress, bouquet of flowers in her hand, gorgeous smile on her face as she whispered the same two words to him in front of their family and friends. Her eyes rose to meet his as she felt his hand grip her buttocks gently.

Knowing she wouldn't want to divulge too much, Eric dropped a kiss to her lips. "So, Valera told you to come tell me you love me and that you wanted to have lots of sex and babies with me. Remind me to thank her. Then what?"

Calleigh rose up again, moving up so their faces were level, shivering as her movement brought his hand over her butt and down between her legs, almost touching her core. "And then you kissed me… and it was everything I'd always dreamed it would be like… and more," she ended with a whisper as her mouth descended to his, his other hand rising to the back of her head, and they kissed.

As they settled back down to sleep, Eric thought over the strides they'd made that day, and thanked God that he'd chosen to grab a cup of coffee from the break room when he did. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have heard her talking in her sleep, wouldn't have made it his mission to make her his quite this soon, wouldn't have had the courage to kiss her like he had in her lab.

He closed his eyes when he felt sleep try to claim him, and thought about what his next mission would be – to make her dream come true. He'd just have to find a way for them to make love on the beach… without getting arrested.


End file.
